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More than 80% of strokes
can be prevented.

Secondary prevention can
reduce stroke recurrance by 80%.

Approximately 1.1 million strokes occur in Europe each year1.

People who have had a stroke are at risk of having another one:2,3,4

  • Around 1 in 10 will have a second stroke within 1 year.
  • Around 1 in 5 will have a second stroke within 5 years.

Stroke is the second most common cause of death in the European Union (EU) and a leading cause of adult disability5.

The financial burden of stroke is expected to increase from €60 billion in 2027 to €80 billion in 20306.

But there’s good news: more than 80% of strokes can be prevented7.

Ensuring brain health and preventing stroke is the responsibility of all levels of society. We need to that target the greatest risk factors that are greatest risk factors for stroke such as smoking and leading an unhealthy lifestyle, which may require changes to the law, for example increasing taxes, as well improving the quality and labelling of food.

In addition, we need to ensure that people know more about stroke risk factors. Understanding stroke risk factors allows us to act to keep our brains healthy. Changing what we can should help protect our brains and reduce the chance of having a stroke.

References

  1. GBD 2019 Stroke Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Neurol. 2021;19(10):795–820. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(21)00252-0

  2. Huang ZX, Lin XL, Lu HK, Liang XY, Fan LJ, Liu XT. Lifestyles correlate with stroke recurrence in Chinese inpatients with first-ever acute ischemic stroke. J Neurol. 2019;266:1194–1202.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-019-09249-5

  3. Modrego PJ, Mainar R, Turull L. Recurrence and survival after first-ever stroke in the area of Bajo Aragon, Spain. A prospective cohort study. J Neurol Sci. 2004;224:49–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2004.06.002
  4. Rucker V, Heuschmann PU, O’Flaherty M, et al. Twenty-year time trends in long-term case-fatality and recurrence rates after ischemic stroke stratified by etiology. Stroke. 2020;51:2778–2785. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.029972
  5. Wafa HA, Wolfe CDA, Emmett E, et al. Burden of Stroke in Europe. Thirty-Year Projections of Incidence, Prevalence, Deaths, and Disability-Adjusted Life Years. Stroke. 2020;51(8):2418–2417. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.029606
  6. Luengo-Fernandez R, Candio P, Violato M, Leal J. At what cost. Stroke Alliance for Europe / University of Oxford. 2020.  https://www.safestroke.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/03.-At_What_Cost_EIOS_Full_Report.pdf
  7. O’Donnell MJ, Chin SL, Rangarajan S, Xavier D, Liu L, Zhang H, et al. Global and Regional Effects of Potentially Modifiable Risk Factors Associated with Acute Stroke in 32 Countries (INTERSTROKE): A Case-Control Study. Lancet. 2016;388(10046):761–775. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30506-2

STROKE RISKS

Read about risk factors we can change 

LIFESTYLE

ENVIRONMENT

MEDICAL
CONDITIONS

Read about risk factors we cannot change 

AGE

BIOLOGICAL
SEX

ETHNICITY

GENETICS

MEDICAL
CONDITIONS

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